PreCognito also previewed 700+ artworks, coming up for sale Saturday at SMMoA’s signature annual event, InCognito, which offers each piece at the same $350 plus tax, regardless of the contributing artist. The catch is that signatures are hidden until after purchases are made.

“It’s not about the monetary value,” said Faris, an honorary committee chair and director of “Little Miss Sunshine.” “The idea is to buy something because of your connection with the work, and not because it’s by so-and-so.” Faris and Dayton figured they have bought 10 pieces at InCognito over the years.

And so, guests mapped out their strategies for securing their favorite pieces. For convenience sake, room schematics sat rolled up at each place on the long dinner tables that stretched in parallel lines from one end of the room to the other.

Also on tables were drinking glasses hand-blown by students in Watts and fresh-cut banana leaves in lieu of dinner plates. SMMoA executive director Elsa Longhauser said the leaves were cut, washed and brought that afternoon by the partner of legendary Chez Panisse chef Alice Waters, who lent her vision to the dinner. Suzanne Goin of Lucques prepared the exceptional family-style cuisine.

“Wow, what a night,” said Sellars from the podium, praising SMMoA for “the depth of pleasure, the depth of exhilaration, the depth of funkiness that is the Santa Monica Museum of Art.” He also spoke of the museum’s democratic leanings, gesturing toward all the equally sized, equally priced artworks around the room.

During her turn at the podium, Leavin gave a nod to the artists, including those she has exhibited over four decades, as well as to those in the room, naming among them Alexis Smith, Barbara Kruger, Lari Pittman and Larry Bell at her table alone.

“It’s a fact,” she said. “None of us would be here tonight if it weren’t for artists.”

Christina Kim of dosa designed the décor, much of it in an African theme, draping the light fixtures in hand-dyed scarves. Bruce Adlhoch and Shulamit Nazarian co-chaired PreCognito, helped by committee members Price Arana, Jeff Davis, Carla Kirkeby, James Parks and Randi Malkin Steinberger.

For information about tickets to InCognito, click here or call (310) 586-6488.

"Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" headed into the weekend with expectations of a $40-million opening in the U.S. and Canada, but Paramount Pictures on Sunday reported that its Tom Cruise film actually brought in an estimated $56 million.

Fans who saw the last show of U2’s North American tour Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York City had an incredible bit of luck. For one thing, Bill Clinton was in the house, but blessedly refrained from sitting in on saxophone.

Longstanding discord between the families of star singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown erupted again Saturday to mar the memorial service for their daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga.

Winning the box-office derby on its opening weekend was a foregone conclusion for “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” leaving only the question of just how formidable a draw the latest installment in the Tom Cruise-led thriller franchise would be.